Life On My Own
by Rachel Jameson
Summary: Harry is raising his baby girl on his own. What happens when an old flame comes back into his life? Can he continue raising his daughter without loosing his cool? Slightly AU. Please Read and Review!
1. Prologue

I woke up to someone rubbing my back. This was the third time this week that this had happened. I knew whoever it was, Ms. Walker most likely, would be pissed.

"Harry," she said soothingly

"Mmm?"

"Harry, can you tell us what we're looking at?"

I readjusted my glasses and squinted at the slide.

"Uh...Uranus?"

The class burst out in laughter. I didn't know if it was because I was completely wrong, or if I had something stuck in my hair or on my face. I hadn't had a decent night's sleep in two months. Why would she do this? Turn off the lights with a bunch of sleep-deprived teenagers? Someone was bound to sleep. I can't believe I did it again though.

"Very Good, Harry. Now, can you tell me what this is?" she clicked to a new slide, it all looked vaguely familiar.

"A...uh...bezor? Or a—?"

"Bezor is correct Harry,"

The bell rang, and everyone shot up and left class.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"I don't know...I guess...it's just..."

"They'll wait a few minutes"

"Okay,"

"Harry, you're a bright kid, you shouldn't be in this class. You're smarter than this. You should be in the advanced class."

"I don't have the time, it's too much work,"

"Harry, there's tutoring after school, they stay open for the girls, Lynzi, Jacy and Sara have study groups on Mondays and Wednesdays, you should really think about it."

"I don't know, I mean—I've been really busy, I could try..."

"Good, I'll tell them you'll be there on Monday. Here's the book,"

_That book_. God, it seemed to weigh about three hundred pounds.

"Okay, I've really got to go though,"

"I understand, I'll see you tomorrow"

"Bye,"

I grabbed my book-bag and left the class. I hated this school. I wish I was back at Hogwarts. Not here. _Not here._ It was my choice. My decision. I chose this school over Hogwarts. Hogwarts was were everyone was. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, all of them.

"You're late again, Harry" Katie said

"Sorry, Ms. Walker kept me,"

"Here he is! Here's daddy!" she lifted up Mia as she squirmed out of Katie's arm and made her way into my arms.

"Hey, sweetie," I said as I cradled her, "let's go home"


	2. Recollections

I hated leaving Hogwarts. But Dumbledore, McGonagall, they all told me that it would be very hard to continue an education in the magic community with Mia. Not impossible, but "hard." But I choose her. I loved her the moment I saw her. I couldn't let anyone else have her. It was the plan, between Melinda and I, after she had the baby, it would go up for adoption.

* * *

Melinda and I were dating on and off for six months. Our recent break-up had been over the fact that I didn't notice a bracelet she was wearing. She was always breaking up with me over the stupid things like that. She always thought I was flirting with Hermione or Ginny, she knew Hermione was nothing more than a good friend and the same with Ginny.

Our Quidditch Team had just one the Quidditch cup, and there was a party in the Gryffindor Common Room. I don't know how many people were there, fifty, a hundred—I hadn't the slightest clue. Talking with Ron and Hermione, who had recently started dating, I spotted Melinda across the room talking with Lavender, Parvati, and Padma.

She looked up at me and started to giggle. I wanted to go to her so bad. I slowly made my way over to her.

"Hi" I whispered to her.

"Hi"

"How have you been?" I asked awkwardly,

"Good," she giggled, "Listen, Harry, do you want to go somewhere and talk?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," I said, grinning like and idiot. "Um...follow me,"

I grabbed her hand and pulled her up to my dormitory. I know it wasn't the brightest idea, but it seemed like a good one at the time. She looked around. It was the first time she had ever been up there, and what did it look like? A complete mess.

I didn't know what would happen when I brought her up there. I was hoping maybe for a chance for us to get back together. She looked around the room, and I sat down on my bed.

"It's smaller than the girl's" she said

"Oh..." I was thinking too much. I was afraid to say anything, I knew chances were I would make a fool of myself in the end.

"Yeah," she said, sitting down next to me. I leaned in, and kissed her. She kissed me back. After that, I stopped thinking.

"Fun night?" Ron said the next morning.

"What?"

"Don't think I didn't see you come up here with Melinda, and the fact that she didn't leave until about five minutes ago, you're lucky it was dark."

"Oh," I said, feeling the blush come over my face.

"Mate, it's okay, don't think that Hermione and I..."

"Ron, please, _please_ don't finish that sentence,"

"Okay, I'll let you finish it on your own"

"Oh my God! Ew!" I said childishly.

"Ha-ha, very funny. Seriously mate, you should be careful. I don't want to see you guys break-up for the eight millionth time, okay?"

"Yeah, I know"

Melinda wanted to have sex again, I wasn't sure at first, she didn't talk to me for a week after it first happened. Once we first did it, I couldn't get it off my mind. Every time I saw her, I wanted to kiss her and bring her back up to my room. After that, we couldn't stop, at one point it was once a day, but that only lasted for a week.

We started to slow things down. It was better for us. It became more intimate every time we had sex. But then, Melinda started acting funny, she stopped talking to me and even worse she wasn't talking to her friends.

The next day she told me she was pregnant.

Both Dumbledore and McGonagall were understanding, but said that if Melinda kept the baby, that she would not be permitted to return to Hogwarts after the Christmas break. She was due in February, and she would be taking too much time off for the baby.

She didn't discuss it with me, she just made the decision. She was going to keep the baby. I wasn't sure at first what I wanted, my aunt and uncle didn't care, because once I was of age, I was gone. I had my inheritance, I could support her and the baby. I was ready to marry her, I wasn't in love with her, but I wanted to provide for my baby. Melinda refused to marry me, shortly after telling me that she couldn't keep the baby, and that she would be moving to France after the baby was born and adopted.

I didn't want Melinda to put our baby up for adoption, but like her, I thought it would be for the best. It was in January when I got the phone-call from Melinda's parents, saying that she had gone into labor.

"It's too early," I said to myself, "she can't have it now"

I apparated to St. Mungos, where I waited in a hallway, listening to Melinda scream, I didn't want to go in, I couldn't handle it. After five hours, a nurse came out and told her family that was not in the delivery with her, that she had just had a baby girl. The baby was sick, being almost two months early. Melinda was going back and forth between the decision to keep her or not. She knew that either way I would support her.

I couldn't see her at first, I could never bring myself to go into her room, or see the baby. Finally, almost three weeks after the baby was born, I saw Melinda and the baby. They went home.

"Hi," I said walking into her house.

"Hi," she said, I had never seen her like this before. Her hair was messy, and clothes were old and ragged.

"So, how's the baby—"

"_Francesca_"

"Right, Francesca"

"She's fine. Would you like to see her?"

"Yeah, I would, if that's okay"

"Of course," she said as she led me up to a small nursery. It was pink. Pink galore.

"How's she been doing?"

"Good, but, since we're still moving, I've decided that, I'm putting her up for adoption."

"Why?"

"I want a clean start,"

"Oh," I couldn't believe her, she kept changing her mind. Every time I would get used to one idea, she would change it to another.

But then, I saw her, Francesca, and I loved her. I couldn't let her go to another family. She belonged with me. If Melinda didn't want to raise her, then at least she would have one parent who would.

"Let me take her, Melinda,"

"What?"

"I'll take her, I'm of age now, I can take care of her, and I don't want her to be raised by strangers"

The only thing I wanted to do was change her name, "Mia Potter," I told the lawyer.

"Mia, that's her name" I repeated myself.

I moved from my one bedroom apartment to another two bedroom apartment in the same complex.

I had lost all contact with Hermione and Ron, after the school year ended, I was spending more time with Melinda helping her take care of "baby stuff" I told them.

I transferred to a Muggle High School that was made for teen parents. I was one of the only dads in the school that wasn't married. I hated it. I hated being away from all of my friends. But I learned to accept it. I'd rather have Mia and go to a Muggle school than not have Mia and be at Hogwarts.

But in these Muggle schools, they had extra years, and I would have to complete another year. But when I started the fall semester, Mia was nine months old, and much better to take care of. The girls always starred at me as I walked in with Mia and the car seat. The metal detector would go off everyday.

"It's the car seat"

"I'm sure, please place your backpack on the table."

"It's the car seat" I repeated.

"Damn kids"

I watched as Katie walked through with Emma, the metal detector would go off and they would let her go.

I dropped her off, and headed towards class, when a small girl ran into me.

"Whoa, um...sorry" I said as I helped her pick up her things, which was hard for her to do with a small newborn in her arms, then looked up and I was really surprised who I saw, "Ginny?"

"H—Harry? Wow! I didn't know that this was the school you transferred to!"

"Yeah," I said looking at the baby, "she can only get better," I said with a small laugh, Ginny then gave me the baby to hold.

Ginny burst out in tears. I didn't know what to do or what to think. I had no idea that Ginny was ever pregnant. Ron never said anything to me, but after Melinda told me she was pregnant, I cut ties from Ron and Hermione.

"I'm mean, she can't can she? She's really cute! Don't worry! They all look really lumpy when they're first born,"

"Give me back my lumpy baby!" she said with a small laugh.

I couldn't believe it, Ginny Weasley, was here. I never thought I would see her again, and yet, here she was.


End file.
